Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Medicare Is the Best Health Insurance

Americans with Medicare coverage, the government's single-payer health insurance program for people aged 65 or older, rate their health care much more highly than everyone else. Among adults of all ages who have been to a health care provider in the past year, just over half (53 percent) give the quality of the care they received the highest rating—a 9 or 10 on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Among people aged 65 or older, a much larger two-thirds give their health care the highest rating...

Percent rating their health care a 9 or 10 by age
Aged 18 to 44: 45.8%
Aged 45 to 64: 53.4%Aged 65-plus: 64.6%

By type of health insurance, the results are the same. Those on Medicare are by far the ones most satisfied with the health care they receive...

Percent rating their health care a 9 or 10 by type of health insurance
Under age 65, uninsured: 40.4%
Under age 65, public only: 41.4%
Under age 65, any private: 52.1%Aged 65-plus, Medicare only: 65.9%Aged 65-plus, Medicare and private: 66.1%

ABOUT ME

Demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Press, Cheryl Russell is the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine and The Boomer Report. She has written numerous books about demographic trends. Ms. Russell is a professional demographer with a master's degree from Cornell University.